A Journal of Historical Fiction

Issue 2, Volume 3 Fall 2015

It’s October. The cooler weather and shorter days make this inevitably a time of reflection, of stock-taking, as we prepare for the long winter ahead. We look back, examine where we’ve been, and the choices we made that brought us to where we are.

And many of the short stories selected for this issue of Circa have that same air of introspection.

From stories like “What To Do With a Handful of Flags,” Kenan Orhan’s story of the madness and uncertainty during final days of the First World War, to the lyrical “Instruments of Flight” by C. A. Schaefer, about an affair between two magicians in Depression-era New York, this issue contains stories that seek to re-examine a very personal past.

Two stories in this issue take as their theme the difficulties of homecoming after war: Gen Del Raye’s “The Fields Above Matsue, Japan” and R. M. Graves’ “One for Sorrow, Two for Joy.” They give an intimate look inside the fragile and bittersweet relationships after the shock of war.

There is also the story of Elke, a young girl caught up in the darkness of Nazi Germany, and her confusion in a case of mistake identity, in Lorain Urban’s “Altona.”

But it’s not all as sombre as it sounds. Check out “The Fabulous Bones of Diogenes the Cynic” by David A. Watson, a retelling of the famous meeting between the philosopher and Alexander the Great. Or “The Auction,” Katie Stevens’ tale of wife-selling with a twist.